Second helping?

Two San Diego Section swim records set by Mira Mesa’s Mike Picotte more than 20 years ago have provided motivation for Rancho Bernardo’s Trent Williams, who bettered the 200-yard freestyle mark last spring and will try to break the 100 free record in a couple weeks:

Picotte (1989)

100 freestyle: 45.21

200 freestyle: 1:38.44

Williams (2011)

100 freestyle: 45.48

200 freestyle: 1:37.77

Twenty-three years of age and a continent separate Mike Picotte and Trent Williams. The oldest San Diego Section high school boys swim record brings them together.

As a Mira Mesa senior in 1989, Picotte set marks in the 100-yard freestyle and 200 free. They would stand as a pair until last season when Williams broke the 200 free record as a junior.

The Rancho Bernardo standout also won the 100 free Division I title yet came up short of that record, setting the stage for one more opportunity in this spring’s section meet concluding with the finals May 19 at Del Norte High.

From his home in Suffolk, Va., Picotte followed the developments online. Then he felt compelled to reach out to Williams via the phone and occasional text messages not only to offer congratulations but also to become a cheerleader for the next record attempt.

“My advice to him was to really focus and put both down so low that they will still be his in 10 or 20 years as well,” Picotte said. “Additionally, I reminded him that his real goal must be to find a way to keep improving once he gets to college.”

For Williams, the name in the record book suddenly became a voice of encouragement. It gave further perspective to breaking a record older than he is.

“It’s cool hearing from a guy who has gone through everything that I’m going through,” Williams said. “Also, I’m going to Cal, and he went to UCLA. Hearing how he’s stoked that I’m breaking his records is just awesome.”

Williams arrived at Rancho Bernardo as a 6-foot-2, 180-pound freshman who would win the 200 free Division I title, making possible a career sweep this year. He has developed into a 6-3½, 200-pounder made stronger through training in the pool and weight room.

Or, in other terms, Williams nearly matches Picotte’s peak physique in college, each in the mold of the freestyle sprinter prototype.

From the time Picotte set a national age-group record in the 10-and-under division, his natural swim talent was apparent. By his own terms, though, he would have a love-hate relationship with the sport and came to favor water polo, which he began playing at Mira Mesa.

Picotte competed in water polo and swimming as a junior at UCLA, becoming the first athlete at the school to do so since All-American Robin Leamy in 1982.

It was a helping hand from Leamy that in part prompted Picotte to extend his own to Williams.

“Robin was one of those guys who called me, ‘Hey, I see that you’re doing well at UCLA,’ ” Picotte said. “He approached me, and I was able to ask him questions. I took a lot from that and wanted to carry on that tradition.”